Staying Motivated

With my last race a few weeks in the rear view mirror, I’m fully on board with training for the full Ironman in late August. I admit that my focus completely flagged between St. George and Coeur d’Alene. I missed many workouts and completely stopped all my self-care (foam rolling and stretching).

For me, staying motivated to do the workouts is easy, but for some reason I find it difficult to keep on top of self-care and recovery. However, it is absolutely critical to find the time given the current status of my knees and hips (angry).

Saturday I did a 10 mile run which taxed my knees quite a bit; Sunday morning was rough. But I managed to still do a tough 45 minute time trial on Sauvie Island as part of an 80 mile ride. Magically it actually made everything feel better (the Excedrin may have helped a bit, too).

I ran 4 miles yesterday and felt surprisingly good. Going slower certainly helped. I also had a strong swim after work, and I’m starting to feel like maybe I can do this after all.

I’ve been telling people doing a full Ironman on my first year “back” to triathlon is just checking a box on the bucket list. But let’s be real: every time I toe the line at a race, I’m racing. I do not like “racing for fun”. That’s not racing, that’s participating. Which is all well and good for supported century rides, but for me, if my name shows up in a set of results, I am racing. Trust me, I’ve tried to have fun entering races with a participant mind-set, but honestly I just don’t have fun. I just have frustration.

Which is why I must be slavishly devoted to my foam roller; I have to get all my runs in, and I can’t do that if everything hurts.

Why is it so much easier to fit in all these workouts but so seemingly difficult to sit around stretching? If I frame it as part of my training that’s just as important as the workouts, it’s much easier to “find” the time to do it, rather then thinking of it as this thing I “have” to do (clearly I don’t have to do any of this, it’s a hobby). I also must accept that motivation comes in waves, and I can’t be perfectly compliant all the time.

But I do want to be perfect. A girl can try. ?